


Bonding

by beloved_key



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen or Pre-Slash, Illness, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Lance is not a good nurse, Langst, Sickfic, Whump, others are mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 01:20:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16863565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beloved_key/pseuds/beloved_key
Summary: Should Lance have fallen asleep while he and Keith were stuck in quarantine? No.Should Lance have fallen asleep while Keith had a dangerously high fever, with Lance being the only one allowed to physically help? No.Should Lance have failed to at least set an alarm so all he did was take a short nap? No.Was Lance currently beating himself up about all of the above? Hell fucking yes.





	Bonding

Should Lance have fallen asleep while he and Keith were stuck in quarantine? No.

Should Lance have fallen asleep while Keith had a dangerously high fever, with Lance being the only one allowed to physically help? No.

Should Lance have failed to at least set an alarm so all he did was take a short nap? No.

Was Lance currently beating himself up about all of the above? Hell fucking yes.

Things went to shit after he and Keith returned from a duo mission on a nearby swamp planet (an exhausting, disgusting, obnoxious, long duo mission). One step in the decontamination chamber and alarms were blaring, indicating the presence of viral infection. The two were rushed off to quarantine, left only with Coran’s reassurance that it was probably nothing, and that they should have an antiviral ready within the next few days.

Unfortunately, Keith spiked a fever within the next few hours.

Near as Lance could tell, Keith had contracted some kind of mega-flu on the swamp planet, complete with clogged lungs, blocked sinuses, and, most dangerously, a monster fever. Lance had been doing his best to keep Keith alive and relatively comfortable, but… They’d just gotten off from that awful mission, he was stressed, he was exhausted, and Keith had been asleep so it was okay for Lance to sleep too, right?

Wrong.

Lance woke to an alarming spluttering, and before he was even fully awake he’d automatically stumbled to Keith’s bedside at the other end of their shared quarantine room. Lance pulled the convulsing Red Paladin up into a sitting position, wincing at the harsh, wracking coughs that Keith just couldn’t seem to stop.

When finally, after a few carefully-timed sips of water, the coughing faded, Keith slumped over against Lance, breathing shallowly to prevent an encore performance. Lance absently ran a hand up and down Keith’s shoulder, wincing at the heat radiating off of him from all sides.

“Think it’s about time for some more fever reducers.” Lance muttered, glancing over at the clock (in Altean, but Lance had at least taught himself how to tell time in Coran and Allura’s language). “I mean, I should’ve woken you up for them half an hour ago. Sorry.”

“S’okay.” Keith’s voice was nothing but a crackling whisper. He swayed slightly where he sat when Lance stood up, blinking owlishly up at Lance as he was offered fever reducers.

“I know it hurts to swallow, but these’ll help in the long run.” Lance promised. Keith’s nose wrinkled in distaste, but he accepted the pills and downed them with a sip of water. Lance sat back down next to him as Keith flinched, hand jumping to his throat.

“Ow.” He breathed, eyes watering. Lance wasn’t sure if it was pain, exhaustion, or if Keith was honestly upset. Lance wouldn’t really blame him if that were the case; this really, really sucked.

“Kinda glad… It was you who got stuck in here with me.” Keith rasped, then turned aside to sneeze into his arm. He needed a moment to recover, so Lance waited until he stopped staring into space and blinking to respond.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d prefer anyone except me.” Lance teased gently. Keith shook his head, unable to parse sarcasm in his fevered state.

“Nah. You already have a low opinion of me, so this--” He gestured up and down his ailing body. “Can’t make it any worse.”

Lance frowned. “Hey, buddy, no. I don’t have a low opinion of you, what makes you say that?”

Keith shot Lance a sidelong glance, skepticism almost overpowering misery for dominant portrayed emotion. “You hate me, don’t you?”

Quiznak.

“Keith…” It wasn’t like Lance didn’t know where this was coming from. They hadn’t been stuck in space for very long, but during that entire time Lance had done nothing but goad Keith. “I don’t hate you, man, and I don’t think little of you. I… Look, it’s just, back at the Garrison--”

“Is all this about me not remembering you right away?” Keith asked, a little of his usual fire returning to his eyes.

“No, no, no no no!” Lance shook his head. “It’s not that. Just… You remember me mentioning that I made fighter class when you dropped out?”

“Yeah? So?” Keith wasn’t getting the message. In his defense, he was feverish, and Lance wasn’t exactly spelling it out for him yet, anyway.

“It’s just… I never really knew you all that well even before you left, but then suddenly you’re gone, and I’m a fighter pilot! Best day ever! Dreams come true!” Lance huffed a laugh. “At least, that’s what I thought. Then, I finally get to class, and all I ever hear is Keith.”

Keith frowned. “What?”

Lance sighed, exasperated and embarrassed. “Just… Keith! Keith this, Keith that. Keith would’ve scored higher on that test. Keith wouldn’t have failed that simulation. Keith would’ve known the answer to that question. Keith would’ve been smarter. Keith would’ve been stronger. Keith would’ve been better. Just, all day, every day. Keith.”

Keith didn’t respond, and Lance decided to just keep going.

“And then we get stuck up here and I think, great! Here’s my chance to prove I’m better than golden-boy Keith! Only… I’m not.” Lance slumped forward, leaning on his knees. “You ended up living up to the damn legend. The truth is, I admire you. And I just don’t know how to approach someone who was used to make me feel bad for so long. And I’m only telling you all this because you’re feverish as hell and you’ll probably forget, like, half of it in the morning.”

They sat in silence for awhile (relative silence; Keith was still sniffling and coughing) before one of them spoke up.

“I wrecked the simulator plenty of times.”

Lance’s head whipped around. “What? No way, your record was, like, spotless!”

Keith glanced down, unusually sheepishly. “I snuck out at nights to practice every time they’d introduce a new scenario.”

Lance blinked. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me, that you snuck out of your dorms at night--”

“And instead of going into town like a normal person, I ran the simulator.” Keith’s cheeks were pinker than could be accounted for by the fever, at this point. “I-I was bored, okay, and I liked flying, and I didn’t like the idea of everyone seeing me mess up, so…”

“Keith.” Lance grabbed Keith’s shoulders. “Buddy. Pal. You just made my night. That is the fucking best.”

Keith smiled hesitantly. “Really?”

Lance grinned. “Uh, yeah, really! I mean they always made you out to be this perfect pilot, never messing up, never out of line, but I was always like, wait, didn’t he get kicked out for discipline issues? And now you tell me that you DID sneak out?!? And it was only to fly the SIMULATOR?!?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!!!” Lance laughed. “Dude, you gotta tell me more weirdly-motivated juvenile delinquent stories. Please. I’m begging you.”

“I’m… About to pass out.” Keith admitted. Lance blinked, then remembered where they were and why Keith was shivering violently. “But… Remind me in the morning, I’ll tell you about how I got my hoverbike.”

“Can’t wait.” Lance said, gently helping Keith lay back down. The Blue Paladin smirked when Keith was immediately out upon hitting the pillow. “Nice to know you’re human after all, buddy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Not super proud of this one, but hope you enjoyed anyway! Feel free to comment/kudos, love you!


End file.
